Brokerages Set Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) Price Target at $27.00

Shares of Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.00.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KN shares. Zacks Research raised Knowles to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Craig Hallum set a $28.00 price target on Knowles and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knowles in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $30.00 target price on Knowles in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Knowles from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $1,237,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 839,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,774,407.50. This trade represents a 5.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 236,656 shares of company stock worth $5,658,969. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knowles

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Knowles during the 4th quarter worth about $941,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Knowles by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 30,810 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 5,931 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 634,355 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,594,000 after buying an additional 267,400 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Knowles during the third quarter worth approximately $372,000. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Knowles in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knowles Stock Performance

Shares of Knowles stock opened at $24.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Knowles has a 12 month low of $12.19 and a 12 month high of $25.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 51.83 and a beta of 1.50.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $152.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.08 million. Knowles had a return on equity of 8.98% and a net margin of 7.27%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS.

Knowles Company Profile

Knowles Corporation (NYSE: KN) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced micro-acoustic, audio processing and precision device solutions. The company’s product portfolio includes microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones, balanced armature receivers, acoustic filters, and custom audio processing integrated circuits. These solutions are designed to enable clear speech, enhanced voice capture and intelligent audio performance in a variety of end markets.

Founded in 1946, Knowles has evolved from its roots in vacuum tube components to become a pure-play audio technology provider following its spin-off from Dover Corporation in 2014.